Tag: Jim Gossen
Hurricane Ida struck the heart of Louisiana’s seafood industry as a Category 4 hurricane, wiping out homes, boats, trucks, plants and icehouses. Oyster farmers on Grand Isle lost their entire crop, processing plants from Grand Isle to Dulac lay in ruin and almost 30% of the shrimping fleet in Golden Meadow lay useless at the start of current shrimp season. “If the Louisiana seafood industry is to have any life at all in the near future,” said Gulf Seafood Foundation board member Ewell Smith, “it is all about ice.”
DONATE NOW!!! Hurricane Ida has left a path of destruction through Louisiana, and in that path was seafood community after seafood community. Donate to the Gulf Seafood Foundation’ “Helping Hands” for Hurricane Ida.
The billion dollar question haunting the Gulf seafood industry, as well as fisheries across the U.S, is how domestic seafood can compete with imports when fish in the freezers or on the counters of almost every grocery store, and in the kitchen of almost every restaurant, comes from another country? Countries that often fail to impose any semblance of quality control or inspections.
BREAKING NEWS: Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards Joins Call for Seafood Disaster (via Washington Post)
Heeding the call of a seafood coalition led by the Gulf Seafood Foundation, Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United and Louisiana Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is the first Gulf governor to petition the federal government to declare a Gulf fisheries disaster. Flood waters from the upper Mississippi River tributaries continue to gush into delicate saltwater estuaries vital to the lifespan of a wide variety of Gulf seafood and the livelihood of fishermen and seafood processors.
As a result of record flooding in the central United States, the gates of the Morganza Spillway are set to send fresh water into a fragile ecosystem that is home to a wide variety of Gulf seafood. Louisiana Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser, the Gulf Seafood Foundation and other Gulf-wide organizations are calling for Gulf State governors to make a coordinated request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to declare a state of emergency existing specific to Gulf seafood and its related industries.
A new study by the University of Louisiana Lafayette examining the people and industries on the frontlines of Gulf seafood and detailing how the industry has weathered challenges while capitalizing on opportunities for growth will be expanded to include all Louisiana parishes bordering the Gulf. A $250,000 grant by the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board will dovetail with an initial grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the same amount expanding the initial study.
The recent Blue Collards’ Barleybrine Oyster & Craft Beer Weekend rallied craft brewers, celebrity chefs and beer-loving foodies to help Florida oyster growers affected by the hurricane. The dinner prepared by Chef Kelsey Barnard-Clark, winner of the latest season of Top Chef, raised funds for the Gulf Seafood Foundation’s “Helping Hands” relief efforts which distributes work gloves to fishermen, as well as other need aid.
The Gulf Seafood Foundation has announced a new slate of officers for 2019. Former Sysco Louisiana Seafood chairman Jim Gossen, a native of Lafayette, LA living in Houston, TX, will remain as the President of the organization formed to support and promote the high standards of the Gulf’s vast commercial and recreational fisheries industry.
Alabama’s Beth Walton, Executive Director of Oyster South, and Father Sinclair Oubre, a Catholic Diocesan priest and Treasurer of the Port Arthur (Texas) Area Shrimpers Association, have joined the Gulf Seafood Foundation’s Board of Directors.
The first oyster fishery in the United States has entered the Marine Stewardship Council fisheries standard assessment. Prestige Oysters of San Leon, Texas has entered full assessment for oysters harvested in Texas and Louisiana.
Craft brewers and celebrity chefs from across the South are rallying with beer-loving foodies to help Florida seafood workers affected by Hurricane Michael. Barleybrine Oyster & Craft Beer Weekend is an effort to raise funds for the Gulf Seafood Foundation’s “Helping Hands” relief efforts providing work gloves and other compensation to Gulf fishermen.
The Gulf seafood family has suffered a loss with the passing of Diane Menard Gossen, wife of Gulf seafood champion Jim Gossen. The 70-year-old Diane passed away in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Dec. 5th, at the family home in Lafayette with her family at her side.
James Beard Award winning Chef Chris Shepherd has been named the Gulf Seafood Foundation’s first-ever recipient of the organization’s “Helping Hands Award.”
After more than five decades of serving at the helm of the Southeastern Fisheries Association, Executive Director Bob Jones has announced his retirement at the end of 2018.
Veteran journalist Ed Lallo has resumed the duties of Editorial Director for Gulf Seafood News after a two-year hiatus. The recently updated news site will serve as the newsroom for the Gulf Seafood Foundation, as well as the Gulf Seafood Institute.
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